"Bourbon does for me what the piece of cake did for Proust."
"Lord, grant that my work increase knowledge and help other men. Failing that, Lord, grant that it will not lead to man’s destruction. Failing that, Lord, grant that my article in Brain be published before the destruction takes place."
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Source: Walker Percy (2011). “The Thanatos Syndrome”, p.6, Open Road Media
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"You live in a deranged age, more deranged than usual because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing."
"Where there is chance of gain, there is also chance of loss. Whenever one courts great happiness, one also risks malaise."
"To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something."
"In this world goodness is destined to be defeated. But a man must go down fighting. That is the victory. To do anything less is to be less than a man."
"How did it happen that now he could see everything so clearly. Something had given him leave to live in the present. Not once in his entire life had he come to rest in the quiet center of himself but had forever cast himself from some dark past he could not remember to a future that did not exist. Not once had he been present for his life. So his life had passed like a dream. Is it possible for people to miss their lives the way one can miss a plane?"